Portret van een jonge man in uniform 1895 - 1920

This is a photographic portrait of a young man in uniform, possibly from the early 20th century, by an artist named B. Thiele. It's small, intimate, rendered in tones of grey and sepia, and presented within an oval frame. There’s something about the texture of these old photographs that gets me, the way the light seems to soften and almost dissolve the image. Look closely at the details of the uniform – the braided cords, the crisp white hat, the way the light catches the fabric. The surface has a gentle sheen, a kind of luminosity that speaks to the time and care taken in its making. The young man’s gaze is direct, but there's also a vulnerability there. This image reminds me of the work of Gerhard Richter, particularly his portraits based on photographs. Both artists seem to embrace the inherent ambiguity of the medium, suggesting that meaning is always in flux, shaped by the passage of time and the act of looking.